Nature Fresh™ Farms takes eat brighter!™ message to schools
“There is no doubt that kids love vegetables and Sesame Street!” stated Henry Furtado, Corporate Chef. With a cart stocked full of eat brighter! themed tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, Furtado recently visited the Grade 1 class at St John de Brebeuf School in Kingsville, Ontario to talk about healthy eating. During his visit, Chef Furtado had the students participate in making a sweet bell pepper smoothie & a few other healthy snacks.
“I never thought you could use a bell pepper in a smoothie, it really tasted good. I am going to ask my mom to make me one tonight,” said Isabella F in Mrs. Baker’s Grade 1 class. Numerous comments were made to Furtado by a variety of teachers that this was the first time anyone has come to the school and done an event to teach children how to prepare a healthy snack and speak to a Chef in person.
“We need to start educating kids at a very young age what healthy snacks look like and the different ways to make them. With an endless list of fruits & vegetables available, using the eat brighter! movement as inspiration helps reinforce the message when kids see their favourite characters on a package of bell peppers (Cookie Monster) or mini cucumbers (Elmo) like Nature Fresh™ is doing ” stated Furtado.
During the event at St. John de Brebeuf School, all children were given Nature Fresh™ Coloring Sheets that are eat brighter! themed with vegetables and a variety of Sesame Street characters. The company has a dozen vegetable themed coloring & activity sheets in development that will be distributed at upcoming school functions & other consumer facing events this spring. All coloring sheets will be released via the various Nature Fresh™ social media channels in early April and will also be posted on the company’s website.
The eat brighter! movement is a unique and powerful collaboration between Sesame Workshop and Produce Marketing Association (PMA) that encourages kids ages 2–5 to eat more fruits and veggies. The collaboration, commissioned by the Partnership for a Healthier America, works with the private sector and PHA Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama to broker commitments to help end the childhood obesity epidemic.
For more information:
www.naturefresh.ca